


The Second Crystal

by cloudyjenn



Series: Outsider [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M, Spoilers, Trespasser Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:40:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyjenn/pseuds/cloudyjenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magister Pavus' new bodyguard knows about the sending crystal he uses to speak with the Inquisitor.  It isn't until much later that she finds out about the second one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Second Crystal

**Author's Note:**

> This is a first foray into DAI fic to get some exercise writing the characters, so please forgive if I make any obvious story mistakes. I like fics that take an outsider's perspective of a ship, so this is my version. It's complete, but I might add some more to it later if the mood strikes.

Nera had been working for Magister Pavus for nearly two months the first time she saw the sending crystal around his neck.  She’d known Magister Pavus kept one in his office for use in communicating with the Inquisitor.  As his personal bodyguard, Nera had been given certain information about his day to day life that she might find useful.  The very first thing he’d explained to Nera was she must make certain no one bothered the crystal because it remained a link to Inquisitor Adaar, whom he called his ‘dearest friend in the world.’  

Nera had never heard of a Tevinter and a Qunari carrying on such a deep personal relationship.  But she had not been hired to judge Magister Pavus.  Her job was only to protect him at all costs.  His odd friendships notwithstanding, Nera truly believed that Magister Pavus was Tevinter’s best hope.  Their society could not continue its cycle of enslavement and abuse of power.  It was a truth Nera felt deeply.  Her own mother had died in slavery before Nera had been able to save her.

Now she worked for Magister Pavus in the hopes that her work could somehow make up for that gut-wrenching failure.

Still, working for the man was very odd.  He didn’t act anything like the other magisters.  Oh, he spoke a great deal about his own talents and beauty, but Nera rather thought he did it as a distraction, a way of making others dismiss him while he cleverly gathered information through seemingly innocuous or even inane comments.

Away from the other magisters and high society, Magister Pavus’s masks eased.  They did not fall away entirely in front of her.  She suspected only a very few ever saw Dorian Pavus totally at ease.  But the glimmer of arrogance and charm calmed into a softer and much kinder personality.  He asked the servants bringing him dinner if they had a good day.  He sent Nera to the really nice baths he owned when he suspected she’d had strained a muscle.  He wrote long letters every night to people who didn’t live in Tevinter.  Magister Pavus was the only magister she knew who’d bother with someone outside their society.

Like a Qunari.  

The first time Nera heard the Inquisitor’s voice, she was invited into Magister Pavus’ study after softly knocking on his door.

“Come in!  Hold on a moment, please, Aiya,” he said, sounding cheerful.  Nera couldn’t help smiling at him.  He’d been so down after the last meeting of the day.  Some kind of private session with Magisters Tilani and Gravier that she suspected had not gone well.  “My bodyguard is here.”

“The new one?” a woman’s voice said from the crystal.  Nera carefully kept the surprise from her face.  The Inquisitor sounded _very_ young.  

“Yes, Nera,” Magister Pavus confirmed.  “She’s a treasure.  Quite as talented in a fight as our Cassandra and as fierce as Leiliana.  I hope you know I don’t brag about just anyone,” he added to Nera in a teasing tone.

At first, she wasn’t sure how to reply.  Most of her clients did not treat her as anything other than a weapon.

“I shall endeavor to earn it, ser,” she ventured.

The Inquisitor chuckled through the crystal, but the sound was light and amused, so Nera didn’t take offense.  “I bet you’re having fun with that one, Dorian,” she joked.  So familiar.  Nera glanced at Magister Pavus, almost expecting the thunder of anger on his face, but she’d forgotten he wasn’t just any magister.

“You know me, darling, I love a challenge,” he shot back.  “Let me tend to her business and I will call you back.”

Nera assumed from that afternoon on that Dorian Pavus and the Inquisitor were in love.  

Not that she had a great deal of experience with love or talk between lovers, but their open easy affection spoke volumes.  Clearly they loved each other deeply.  It must really hurt them to be separated by so many miles with only a sending crystal to keep in touch.  Nera resolved to keep careful watch when she heard him speaking into the crystal.  They deserved time uninterrupted to speak together.

Over the first six weeks of her job within Magister Pavus’ household, Nera heard him speaking to the Inquisitor no less than 18 times.  At times he sounded angry, ranting to her about the twisted politics of the Magisterium.  Other times, Nera thought he sounded teasing and amused, both of them laughing so hard it made Nera giggle even though she couldn’t make out the words.  Once she was certain she heard Magister Pavus crying.  Or at least choking on painful words.  Each time, Nera listened for the Inquisitor’s deep soothing voice and felt herself growing a bit fond of the woman.  Adaar kept Magister Pavus from losing his mind in the center of a dicey and sometimes very unsafe environment.  

It wasn’t until her seventh week of employment that Nera caught sight of the second crystal.  

She knew Magister Pavus wore a long chain around his neck.  He favored open collars that showed off his neck and a hint of chest.  But the chain always stayed below the line of his shirt and she’d assumed it attached to a family crest or perhaps just a decoration that had some meaning to him.  Nera hadn’t given it much thought, but if asked, she would have guessed Adaar had given it to him.  

Then one afternoon, she watched him leaned down to pick up papers that had fluttered off his desk and caught sight of the green stone.  

Nera frowned.  A second stone?  Perhaps a portable version in case he needed a quick call?  Why then did he not explain to her that she should keep it safe the same as the one in his office?  

She puzzled about the stone, but didn’t give it too much thought until the following week.  A bird had come very late one evening to his study where Nera was conducting her nightly inspection for listening devices.  Magister Pavus had only just gone to bed after all day meetings, but the letter on the bird was marked urgent.  

“Alright, I’ll take it to him,” she told the bird as if it could understand.  It cocked its head at her as she untied the letter.  “Go on then.  If he wants to respond, we’ll do it with one of our birds.”

Nera carried the letter up two spiraling staircases to Magister Pavus’ private quarters.  She passed the night guards halfway down the landing, giving them a nod as she walked by.  Nera had never been to Magister Pavus’ rooms so late at night.  She regretted having to wake him.

The thought had just passed through her mind when she heard Magister Pavus speaking in a low rumbling tone she’d *never* heard from him.  She paused, torn by indecision and that’s when she realized she could understand the words coming from under his door.

“...driving me mad.  Absolutely mad,” he groaned, making a sound that made Nera think he’d flopped down on the bed.  

“And you didn’t have far to go in the first place,” replied a second unfamiliar voice.  It was rough and deep and very masculine.  Not Adaar.  The tone sounded unbearably fond and it echoed distantly the way Adaar’s did when they spoke via crystal.

“Oh hush,” Magister Pavus said cheekily.  “I’m just saying I want to bash all their faces in and it’s becoming a real problem.”

“Hey, you know I have nothing against a good face bashing, but I think this is the part where I’m supposed to be supportive and tell you that you care too much about your homeland to fuck up your work that way,” the other voice replied.  

Nera frowned.  She didn’t hear casual obscenities very often.

Magister Pavus heaved a deep sigh.  “Yes.   Yes, of course.  I know, but it’s so difficult.”  His voice grew quieter.  “I miss you so much, amatus.”

Shock rolled through Nera’s mind.  Amatus?  This gruff beastly sounding man was Magister Pavus’ lover?  She told herself she should leave right now and not continue eavesdropping, but her feet felt melded to the floor.

“I miss you too, kadan,” the man replied, but he didn’t sound quite as desolate as Magister Pavus.  More like he was trying to stay positive.  “Only 8 days now.”

Nera made a quick connection.  One of Magister Pavus’ mysterious trips was coming up soon.  She was to accompany him this time to keep him safe.  Now she knew the reason he’d not been very forthcoming with the destination.  

“Eight endless horrid days.  I don’t know how much more of this I can handle, I really don’t,” Magister Pavus complained.  “I’ve been more comfortable stuffed down your bedroll than I am in this silly enormous bed all alone.”

“I thought you liked the bed,” the man teased.

“...well, it _is_ a very nice bed, but it’s lacking a very important component,” Magister Pavus answered, sounding haughty and annoyed.

The man just laughed.  “Ah, see I knew you only liked me as a pillow.”

“Not _only_.  Just among other very lovely qualities,” Magister Pavus denied.  

“I’m going to assume you mean my cock.”

Nera blushed down to her roots.  

“It is a _very_ nice cock,” Magister Pavus said dreamily.  

“Krem asked me yesterday if I was worried about mine falling off,” the man said, which made Magister Pavus snort a laugh.  “We were staying in an inn and there was a barmaid there.  You know the kind.  Big tits, likes to bounce them in your face.”

Magister Pavus sounded slightly less amused when he spoke.  “Yes, I’m familiar with the type.”

“Yeah, but it was weird.  I just...she was there and she was pretty and all, but I just don’t get excited by that shit anymore.  Yeah, big tits are nice, but what’s the interest if she isn’t showing off her magic and complaining about the weather and calling me a big stupid lummox while giving me the biggest come hither eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“I never called you a stupid lummox,” Magister Pavus asserted, sounding distinctly warmer.  “I believe it was big stupid oaf.”

“Ah, right.  You have so many terms of endearment, it’s hard to keep them straight, kadan,” he said.  Nera filed that word away for later research.  She’d never heard it.  “Anyway, after she finally got the message that I wasn’t interested, Krem asked me if I was worried my dick would fall off from lack of use.”

“And what did you say?” Magister Pavus asked.

“I said we fucked constantly when we met up and it managed to hold me until next time,” the man explained.  “Then I started explaining about sending crystal sex and Krem left to throw up outside.  I think only partly because he had been drinking for four hours.”

Nera liked the sound of Magister Pavus’ merry laugh.  Even with the Inquisitor, he didn’t sound this light or this alive.  Having a male lover wasn’t ideal in his position.  But if this man made her employer sound *that* happy, she was thankful for him.

“Oh, amatus.  What am I going to do with you?” Magister Pavus asked fondly.  

“I have a list,” the man replied.  “Do you want me to go through it?”

“Oh I insist.”

He’d only gotten through two items before Nera finally strode away from the room.  She did not need to hear about Magister Pavus’ mouth doing any of those things to a mysterious lover.  

Nera paused at the guard and handed him the letter with strict instructions to wait an hour before taking it up to Magister Pavus’ room.  She hoped an hour was sufficient time to get through what she expected was an extensive list.   Judging by the longing she’d heard in Magister Pavus’ voice, she wasn’t entirely sure it would be.  

As she walked back to Magister Pavus’ office to restart her search for listening devices, Nera added a mental note to her protection detail.  Keep the office crystal safe, but protect the second crystal at all costs.  

She had a feeling Magister Pavus would agree.  

 


End file.
